Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, don't hurt me. Please don't let J.K.R sue me.
(a/n: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really do appreciate it!
I apologise, but due the amazing amount of time that I don't have, I am no longer able to do recaps.
Pay attention to the dates, please!
Thank you to my new beta, CattyRose! I am grateful you're beta'ing for me!
Read on, oh faithful ones!)
Chapter Twenty
Friday, Dec. 6th
Draco looked at Ginevra, and saw that she was asleep. He was glad that she was sleeping again. It had taken over a week to convince her that sleep was necessary for her, and that the nightmares she were having were only nightmares, and not Ric come for her emotions again.
He brushed a strand of hair from her face softly, hoping his action wouldn't wake her. Ginevra didn't stir. Draco knew it was because of Parvati and Padma, and because of them he would be eternally grateful.
Since Ginevra had talked to them all, Padma and Parvati had set their minds to helping her. They had stayed with Ginevra over the course of Saturday and Sunday, never leaving her side and undertaking the unrelenting task of removing the burning sensation that arrived with every one of Ginevra's varied emotions.
Emotions are fickle things, tending to overlap with one another, so there were hundreds of them to deal with. They had barely slept at all, and the Patil twins looked worse for the wear near the end of it. By that time, Ginevra was sleeping somewhat peacefully, her only trouble at night.
Her mind would take longer to heal; perhaps years, and so she would have nightmares more often than not. But at least the twins had gotten the burning sensation away from Ginevra. She was able to smile, laugh, and even cry, without it causing her unbearable pain.
Draco had glimpsed brief moments of her pain. During those moments he couldn't take the stress and turned Veelan, which had been horrible enough; he was amazed that Ginevra had been able to stand it at all.
Now, Ginevra assured him that the only pain she felt was like a dull headache whenever she felt too strong of an emotion. Apparently, he made that dull headache come to life, and Draco was sure he wasn't meant to feel pleased at that.
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Lavender looked at Ron, who was snoring on the Common Room lounge, his mouth hanging open. She grimaced in disgust, before turning to face Dean.
"Are you sure he's completely necessary? I'd rather have you to myself," Dean snickered, hitching her hips forward so she was closer to him.
In answer, Lavender was immersed in a breathtaking, controlling kiss, one she fought for. It took her a few moments to reply.
"Yes, he's necessary. Without him, we can't get to Potter and Granger," Lavender said.
Another loud snore from Ron had her wincing and shuddering.
"Unfortunately," she added, not quite under her breath.
Dean smirked in response, glaring at Ron, who had rolled over, clutching a cushion to his chest.
"Is the potion ready?" Dean asked, leaning back on the armchair.
"Almost. Four days left," Lavender said, impatience thick in her voice. "After what she's just been through, we can get her while she's still weak. It's perfect, but I wish we'd had it ready a week ago," she almost growled.
"You never are patient, are you? Good things come to those who wait," Dean quoted, smirking smugly at her.
"But better things come to those who get in first," Lavender retorted.
"Very true," Dean responded, another smirk on his face. "So do you want to come up to my room and shag me senseless, or what?"
"With Potter in the room? I think not," Lavender said, wrinkling her nose.
"You change your mind, you know where I am," he said nonchalantly, shrugging and heading up to the seventh year's room.
Lavender pouted, and was after him in a minute.
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Tuesday, Dec. 10th
Ginevra stretched as she woke up, pleased that she had slept with minimal nightmares. Only two had woken her up, and considering the past few weeks, it had been a good night. She hoped it would be a good day, too.
Draco blinked, waking quickly as she sat up beside him.
"All right?" he asked immediately, sitting up.
Ginevra smiled and nodded at him, reassuring him.
"Fine," she said, then brightened. "In fact, better than fine," she said, moving closer to kiss him softly.
It was their first kiss since Ginevra had woken up, and Draco groaned at the feelings it stirred in him. As he responded hesitantly, Ginevra gasped in pain, pulling away as the dull ache roared in her mind. Draco moved away quickly, to the other side of the room, as if he had burnt her.
"Sorry, love," he murmured softly.
"My own fault," Ginevra said, giving him a reassuring smile. "It didn't hurt that much," she added, her lie leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Don't lie," Draco said humourlessly.
"You two getting ready or what?" Pansy called, banging on their door.
"We're coming," Ginevra called back.
She avoided Draco's gaze as she got out of bed and started to get ready.
So much for a good day.
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Padma and Parvati smiled at Ginevra as she walked over to them. She thought of all of the feelings they had experienced from her, and wanted to blush. It had been a very intense two days, although that was probably an understatement.
"Are you feeling okay?" Parvati asked kindly.
"I guess," Ginevra replied with a shrug.
"What's wrong?" Padma asked, more direct than her twin.
"Nothing," she murmured, but she didn't look at Draco when he came into the room, immediately giving it away.
"He didn't try to force you, did he?" Padma asked, her voice low.
"No, of course not!" Ginevra said, surprised that Padma could even suggest that. "It was me, that's all... He responded, and it hurt," she said, trying to shrug it off.
"What feeling was it?" Parvati asked.
Padma was already holding out her hand for Ginevra.
She bit her lip, hating to make them do this. Again.
Yet, she still took Padma's hand. As she thought of the kiss, the feelings she felt when Draco had returned her kiss were brought up, the pain accompanying them.
Padma tried not to moan at the feelings that coursed through her, especially since it was from Draco, and not Fred. She almost couldn't abstain, the feelings from Ginevra were that strong. She managed to hold the pain though, and let the feeling of love return to Ginevra gratefully.
Parvati took the pain from Padma before her twin could protest. She could handle the pain better than Padma anyway.
"Draco," Parvati called, smiling at him.
Draco came over, but waited until Ginevra looked at him.
"Are you all right now?" he asked softly as Parvati and Padma left.
Ginevra nodded. Now that she had looked up at him, it seemed that she couldn't look away. She had hurt him by lying, she realised with regret.
Before Ric, she wouldn't have lied. Before Ric, she could have kissed Draco without feeling pain. Before Ric ... everything had been perfect, including herself. She hated that he had seen that when she hadn't even realised it herself.
"Do you still want to go to class?" Draco asked softly.
Ginevra nodded again. She bit her lip, and pulled Draco down to kiss him. There was no pain. She could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks.
She had been crying more than usual, another thing that annoyed her. Ever since she had gone inside of herself to hide from Ric, she had changed. She was more hesitant, more worried, more emotional. It was like she was trying to hurt herself in Ric's absence.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Draco asked after a moment to catch his breath.
Ginevra shook her head; no, she wasn't all right, she had some serious doubts whether she would ever feel all right again.
"Do you want to skive off? We can talk, if you feel up to it," Draco murmured.
Despite the fact that she had been awake for two weeks now, Draco and Ginevra hadn't talked about Ric and what he'd done. At least, not alone.
Ginevra had given them all an edited version of what had happened between her and Ric. She had kept some things away from them, knowing it would cause not only herself pain, but also them. She had hardly told them of anything he'd said to her, only going into the physical things he'd done. In hindsight, that most likely hadn't been the best approach to take. Draco's fists had clenched so tightly that she had stopped talking, worried that he'd hurt himself. Which had caused another round of pain.
They were all burning with curiosity, but were trying to be patient with her, sure that she would talk to them in her own time. But after Ginevra's urgency that morning, something had woken up in Draco. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened he wanted to know, to talk with her, to be with her.
Ginevra saw the urgency in his eyes, and nodded in agreement.
"All right, we'll talk about it," she said quietly.
"We'll come back for lunch then," Pansy said, grinning when Ginevra jumped, having forgotten that they were there. "Have fun, and don't do anything that I wouldn't do," she added with a smirk and a wink.
"I doubt we could even think of something that she wouldn't do," Ginevra said after they'd all gone, grinning at Draco.
"I don't want to think of the things she does do, let alone things she doesn't," he replied with a chuckle.
Ginevra grinned at him again, then looked around at the empty corridor.
"Did you want to talk in the meeting room?" she asked.
"Our room is fine."
Ginevra nodded and headed to his room - their room - wondering what she was feeling, and why it wasn't causing her any pain.
She sat on the bed, Draco by her side. Ginevra took his hand and he squeezed it lightly for support.
"I love you, you do know that, don't you?" she murmured, pressing her face into his shoulder.
"Yes, I know. I love you too, Ginevra," he whispered, kissing her.
He manoeuvred her around so that she was on his lap, and he kissed her with as much passion as he could muster; which was a lot.
It left her breathless, and she hugged herself to his body. She told herself to stop procrastinating, despite wanting to kiss him again. She would only end up using this moment as an excuse to put off the story, when he needed to know. From everything Ric had done to her, to the more important matter of what he had said to her.
Gently, she loosened her hold from around Draco and went to sit on the bed beside him. She gave him a tentative smile, and willed her voice not to shake as she started to talk.
"Ric abused me with my emotions, as you know. But not all of the time. Other times he talked to me," she said. "They were mostly stupid, little things, probably thought up by Virginia to make me worry and doubt certain things. But there were a few things he said were true, even though I didn't realise it until he said it," she murmured, looking at their clasped hands.
"What did he say?" Draco asked when she didn't continue.
Ginevra took a deep breath, wondering how to say it in a way that would make sense.
"He said that I was flawed, and he was right... Hear me out," Ginevra said quickly as Draco clenched his fist tightly.
"You're not flawed," Draco muttered under his breath, but let her continue.
"Yes, I am. Or at least, I was," she corrected. "When I found out that I was a Vampiress, I was so afraid of what was happening to me, what everyone would think of me, that I closed myself off. The reaction from my brothers hurt the most, and that's when I told myself that I would show them that I would be happy with who I was, what I was. I didn't even realise what I was doing. I made myself believe that I was someone different so I could pretend to be happy. I made myself seem perfect so I wouldn't have to deal with what was actually happening to me."
"What's so bad about being a Vampiress that you would lie to yourself? And deceive the rest of us?"
"I was afraid! I was being shunned by my family, again. I knew that I would experience the same thing from my friends, from strangers, from people who didn't even like me," she said, looking at him for a brief, intense pause, before continuing, "I didn't want to go through my first year again. Especially considering that I wasn't under someone else's control. This time it was all me; it was what I was, what I was becoming. I couldn't blame it on Tom Riddle this time and expect everyone to forgive me! So I hid everything away, all the doubt, fear, everything."
"You can't have hidden it all away," Draco interrupted. "I know what it is to hide emotions, and I didn't sense it on you."
"That's because you didn't expect me to hide anything. I was supposed to be innocent Ginny Weasley, who shows her heart and all her emotions to the world, and who wouldn't lie under any circumstances. You didn't sense anything, because you didn't know me before all this, so you had nothing to compare to," Ginny said, attempting to soothe the look on Draco's face.
She desperately wanted to take back these last ten minutes, take back the hurtful words she was saying, but now that she'd started telling Draco everything, she couldn't seem to stop.
"I learnt how to study from Fred and George, surprisingly enough. I knew exactly what would be expected of me, knew what most people's reactions would be to what I was becoming. I'd seen it all before in my first year, so I just changed the circumstances slightly when I needed to. At home, I was dutiful and frightened, as Mother expected me to be. I was left alone for the most part, and spent all of that time reading every single book we had in the house about Vampires. I have a photographic memory naturally, so it was easy to retain all of the information. Almost too easy," she added with a harsh laugh.
"I started going through my books for this year, and doing potions when no one was home. That was easy, as well. I simply had to say a few words to Mother, and she'd get everyone out of the house to leave me alone. Everything was going perfect, and all I had to do was follow it. I was perfect in every fucking sense. Perfect daughter, perfect student, and the perfect sister, with the exception of Ron. I was the perfect friend, and in some way, I continued trying to be perfect for you. After all the pretending I'd done, I actually wanted to be the perfect girlfriend."
Ginevra laughed sourly now, not even looking at him, afraid of his reaction.
"Are you quite finished now?" Draco drawled, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Wh-what?" she stammered, whipping her face to look at his, disbelief showing. "After everything I just told you, that's all you have to say?"
"What did you expect, a parade and a medal?" he countered, smirking now.
He watched the disbelief turn to embarrassment, then to anger. His smirk grew wider as she stalked over to him, hitting at his chest with a closed fist.
"You complete and utter bastard," she growled.
"Now, there's the Ginevra I fell in love with," he said, smirking yet again. "Ric doesn't know shit about you, Ginevra. He got to you with a few words, and even if some of it may be true, not all of it is, because you don't consider your reactions around me, or even the rest of us. What you've done with us over the past few months, not all of that has been coordinated and planned to make you look perfect, has it?" Draco asked, looking at her intently.
Ginevra shook her head after a moment's thought. She had tried to make things look perfect, and even some of the things she'd done and said had been coordinated, but definitely not all of it. Draco was right, her reactions around them were different.
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"What's happening?" Pansy hissed to Luna, not even pretending to be listening to McGonagall now.
"Give me five minutes. You're going to lose more House points," Luna warned softly.
Muttering to herself, Pansy returned to taking notes, but her mind was definitely not on McGonagall's lecture about animal transformations.
"Wait," Luna said out the side of her mouth, four and a half minutes later when Pansy looked ready to lean over again.
Thirty seconds later, McGonagall turned her attention to the board, no longer shooting Pansy glares for not listening to her lecture.
"Ginevra's talking with Draco about what Ric said to her. In more detail than she gave us earlier," Luna added. "We'll be told it tonight ... Make that tomorrow. They're not going to be leaving their room any time soon," she amended, wincing slightly as she finished her sentence.
"Okay, too much information!" Pansy said, wincing.
"Lucky bastard, gets to play hooky and have sex," Vincent muttered to Gregory, who nodded in agreement.
McGonagall turned back a minute later, their words somehow registering in her mind, but they were looking as innocent as they could be, and she couldn't do anything except continue teaching.
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Lavender was impatient, angry and more than annoyed. The potion had been read wrong. Instead of being ready today, as it bloody well should have been, the potion wouldn't be ready until April! It was unacceptable.
Her bad mood affected the act she usually had around Ron, Potter, and Granger. She was irritable as all hell, and had snapped at Ron when he'd asked her a stupid question, as usual.
The look on his face had been priceless, and he would probably ignore her for some time until he thought it was right to forgive her. And since everyone was leaving for the Christmas holidays in five days, that would mean that Lavender wouldn't have enough time to plant more seeds of doubt in Granger and Potter's ears.
Oh well, she could always blame it on her period. Ron's face always went bright red when she brought up anything like that, she mused, a smirk on her face. It was amazing how he didn't seem to know how often women menstruated, or for how long. She could have had her period four times in one month, and Lavender doubted that he would notice! She'd already gotten away with three, by pure accident, but maybe four times was pushing it a bit.
For now, she pushed the thoughts of Ron out of her mind, back to the potion and her anger, and continued on her search of Dean. She needed a release and, right now, he was the only one who could give it to her.
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Ginevra sighed, curling her body on top of Draco's. She felt wonderful, beautiful, and loved. Even after everything she'd just said - and at times, yelled - Draco still said that he loved her, and then had taken time to show her just how much.
He hadn't let her do a thing, and despite it being frustrating, not being able to touch him, it had also been oddly erotic. Her mind had kept playing over the things that she was going to do when she got her hands free.
When Ginevra had told Draco what she was thinking, she'd seen his eyes almost darken to black, and she delighted in being able to make him lose control. She doubted that she would ever stop feeling delight at that feeling. Not even the dull ache that had accompanied her emotions brought her spirits down.
"Thank you, Draco," she murmured quietly, pressing a kiss to his torso.
"You're welcome, love. Any time you need me to tie you up and fuck you senseless, you know where to find me," Draco said, smirking at her.
"Oh, I'm not quite senseless yet," Ginevra replied, looking up at him, a cheeky grin on her face.
"A challenge, eh? I think I can meet it," Draco said.
He grabbed her hips, rolled them around so he was above her, and pushed into her with a possessive growl.
He wanted to make Ginevra forget all about Ric, and what he'd done to her.
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Sunday, Dec. 15
Ginevra watched as most of the castle left through the entrance. They talked animatedly about the Christmas holidays, what they were doing, where they were going, and what they were going to get.
She was thankful to be staying behind, and even more thankful that Ron, Harry, Hermione, Lavender, and Dean weren't going to be at Hogwarts for the Christmas break. The Trio were staying at the Burrow, and Ginevra had offered to stay at Hogwarts so that there wouldn't be any arguments over the holidays.
Her friends had decided to stay as well, and she was grateful for it.
Draco came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and murmuring something suggestive in her ear. Ginevra laughed softly, turning in his arms to face him.
"I do have to sleep sometime, you know," she said.
"I don't," he replied, smirking.
She kissed him, grinning. The last of the students left the grounds, and were subsequently forgotten by the lovers.
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Saturday, Dec. 21
Ginevra was exhausted. She had barely stopped during the last week.
Not only had she had to deal with catching up with classes, learning the new work, homework, and trying to decipher everyone's handwriting, Ginevra had also had to re-start her training with her Professor's. The nightly training had begun again, but they still couldn't do more than ten minutes, which showed just how far they'd all slipped behind.
Ginevra had then used whatever spare time she had left in the Forbidden Forest. She had to talk to the unicorns, (Alexander was absent), talk to the Forest's inhabitants and other creatures of the forest, and somehow deal with their disputes. For animals, they had a lot of disputes for Ginevra to hear - most of them were accusations of someone eating someone else's family or friend. Relo had refused to leave her side, growling at anything that came too close for his comfort - which was a five-metre radius.
Once they had all been dealt with, Pansy's Grandfather, Grand Royal Hyler, had requested an audience with Draco and Ginevra. The 'audience' was actually a party, mermaid-style. Clown fish performed tricks, mermaids sang ballads in their enticing voices, and Hyler had presented them with bands allowing them to enter the city of Tler at any time. It was a rare privilege.
Now, sitting in the Thestral-pulled carriage, Ginevra was glad to rest for a moment. She leant against Draco's shoulder, closing her eyes contently as he put an arm around her.
"Are you all right?" Neville asked quietly.
Ginevra opened her eyes, smiled reassuringly and nodded.
"Just a bit tired," she replied.
Draco looked smug, smirking at her, and she elbowed him in the ribs.
"Not because of that! Well, not just because of that," she amended, grinning.
"I think you just bruised my ribs," Draco groaned, holding his side.
"If you can't handle an elbow to the ribs, I don't think you should do training anymore," Pansy taunted, smirking at him.
"Shouldn't he do more training then?" Colin asked, a frown flitting across his face.
"Not if he's going to cry and whinge about it," Pansy replied.
"Okay, enough already. We're here, and I want a Butterbeer," Millicent muttered, opening the carriage door before Pansy or Colin could say anything.
The others followed her quickly, eager about the prospect of something warm in the cold weather. The five girls hurried to catch up to Millicent, leaving their boyfriends trailing behind.
"Nice diversion, Millicent," Padma said with a grin.
"It wasn't a diversion. I really do want a Butterbeer. I'm freezing," Millicent said, rubbing her hands.
"So what are you getting Theodore for Christmas?" Parvati asked her, grinning like her twin.
"Aw, crap. I knew I forgot something," Millicent moaned, Pansy laughing at them.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Gregory asked as Pansy's laughter flowed on the wind towards them.
"Well, Christmas is only in four days, so it's probably about presents," Neville pointed out, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, good. Pansy won't tell us where she hid our presents," Vincent muttered.
"I think that's part of the Christmas joy. 'The not knowing what you're going to get' feeling you have, and the anticipation of what you think you're going to get," Colin said, grinning.
"I hope it's lingerie," Vincent said, as if Colin hadn't said a thing. "What? Not for me, you dolts," he muttered when they stopped and looked at him oddly. "For her," he said, looking at Pansy as if he wanted to devour her. "Something black and lacy," he murmured, trailing off.
"Oh, fuck, Vince. Don't give me thoughts like that. I may just have to return my gift and buy her something else," Gregory said, gripping his boyfriend's arm tightly.
"Och, I don't want any of those thoughts either," Seamus said, looking slightly ill.
"Keep your thoughts away from our girlfriend," Vincent growled.
"Glad ter," Seamus muttered, then pulled Blaise down to him for comfort.
"Luna would look good in white, I reckon," Colin mused, looking at Luna. "Oh, fuck me," he groaned after a moment's silence.
They all looked at him in surprise, not used to hearing Colin swear.
"Apollo just ... oh, fuck ... She does look good in white," he muttered, a grin breaking over his face. "I'm going to the shops. I'll meet you in The Three Broomsticks later," Colin said, hurrying off, still grinning broadly.
"We'd better go too," Vincent said, pulling Gregory after him.
"Where do you think they're going?" Parvati asked, watching as Colin left the others, Vincent and Gregory following half a second later.
"Good morning ladies," Fred and George said, winking at them. "What's a bunch of pretty girls like you doing in a place like this?" they drawled, eyes bright.
"Waiting for you," Padma replied, smirking as she pulled Fred to her, kissing him.
George wrapped his arm around Parvati's shoulders, and she smiled happily, turning her head to kiss his shoulder.
"Can we get inside now? It's freezing!" Millicent groaned.
The others had caught up by then, and on hearing his girlfriend's words, Theodore took her hands in his and rubbed them lightly, warming her.
"Aw, why don't you rub me like that anymore, Neville?" Blaise asked, smirking as Neville spluttered and went red.
"I'll rub ye, love," Seamus said, grinning.
"Did Apollo let off more aphrodisiac today?" Ginevra asked Luna, who laughed, shaking her head.
"Not that I know of. I just think everyone's looking forward to having a day off," she replied as they went into the pub.
"We've had some time off," Ginevra said.
"A few hours at most, and then we're training again," Pansy corrected. "Not that I am complaining about it, we definitely need the training. But an entire day off ... Greg and Vince aren't going to know what hit them," she said, an animalistic look in her eye as her mind wandered.
"Down, girl. Sit, behave," Padma said.
"What'll it be, dears?" Rosmerta asked pleasantly, smiling at them.
"Sixteen Butterbeers, please," Luna replied. "Oh, sorry. Fourteen Butterbeers and two ... stop changing your orders, or you won't get anything," she muttered, glaring at Fred and George, who just grinned in response. "Sorry, Rosmerta. We'll have fourteen Butterbeers and two lemon, lime, and bitters," she said.
"You should stop teasing Luna that way. It confuses people when she's trying to place orders for us," Ginevra said, glaring at her brothers.
They had done the same thing only a few days ago when Luna had been trying to ask the house-elves for food. It had taken her fifteen minutes to get four things for the twins, as they'd kept changing their minds.
"Oh, don't worry, if they do it to me again, then I will just be forced to buy a ginger and licorice flavoured drink," Luna said cheerfully.
"We'll be good!" Fred and George promised immediately, blanching at the thought.
"Where were you three?" Pansy asked when Gregory, Vincent and Colin arrived at their table.
"Never mind that, the drinks are here now," Ginevra said.
Rosmerta arrived less than a second later, a large tray full of drinks. They all took their drinks, thanking her and paying when the tray was empty. As Rosmerta left, the table fell into a comfortable silence as they started on their drinks.
"So where did you put our presents, Pansy?" Gregory asked, smirking at her over the rim of his glass.
"I already told you that I am not telling you," she said, a smirk on her face.
"We'll tell you where we just were," Vincent offered.
Pansy thought for a moment, but then shook her head. She turned to Millicent, smirking.
"Are you warm now?"
"Yes, actually," Millicent said, grinning. "Now tell them where the presents are hidden, or I'll start asking too."
"I'm not telling anyone," Pansy said, returning to her drink.
"Spoil sport," Vincent said, pouting.
"Please tell us, Pans! We won't look," Gregory promised, nudging Vincent under the table so he'd agree.
"Promise!" Vincent agreed quickly.
"Not telling. Help me out here, would you?" Pansy muttered, looking to Padma, Parvati, Luna and Ginevra imploringly.
"What did you get me for Christmas?" Padma asked Fred.
"I'm not telling you," he replied seriously.
"You have to wait until Christmas, or else you don't get the present," George added.
"Weasley rules," Ginevra finished, grinning. "It's tradition. You're not allowed to ask for Christmas presents. If you did, then you have to wait an extra week for them. And if you went hunting for them, and did manage to find them, then you wouldn't get the present at all."
"I lost a cauldron to Percy that way," George said with a heavy sigh. "I got his quill set instead."
"My Puffskein was given to Ron," Fred said, sighing as well.
"Not that he had it for long. You used it for Beater practice!" Ginevra said.
"That would have been messy," Padma said, wincing.
"You killed a Puffskein?" Parvati asked, her eyes wide.
"If I couldn't have it, then no one could. Besides, Ron stole my practice Bludger," Fred said with a shrug. "He didn't even want it anyway. Said it was a baby's pet. So much wasted potential," he muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.
"If you're that upset over it, I'll get you a Puffskein for Christmas," Padma said to her sister.
"And I won't use it for Beater practice," Fred promised, grinning.
"Promise me something, sister? Do not buy me a Puffskein, I don't think I could handle the stress of it being around Fred," Parvati muttered, only half-joking.
Fred just laughed at her expression.
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Wednesday, Dec. 25
"Merry Christmas!"
The two words had a varying amount of responses, and none of them were nice, considering it was only seven o'clock in the morning.
"Okay. You all sleep some more. I'll just eat the food and open the presents myself!" Luna called loudly, grinning when she heard Gregory and Vincent swearing and hurrying to get dressed.
Slowly, everyone dragged their feet into the meeting room. The gasps of surprise she heard was enough to make Luna smile. She had hoped to get the decorations right, which had been difficult, even with Relo attempting to guide her. She had already smashed two glass baubles.
"You did this, Luna?" Pansy asked, awe in her voice.
"I tried to. Relo helped me," Luna replied.
"I helped link the paper circles!" Relo added proudly.
"Very good job, both of you," Parvati said with a grin.
"Where's the food?" Vincent asked, his stomach growling painfully.
"Food before presents," Gregory added when Colin went to say something.
There was some scuffle as everyone tried to grab plates, food and drinks without getting it on each other, or more importantly, the presents.
In minutes, they were all eating, talking to each other between bites, and eyeing off the stack of presents surrounding the tree.
"I can't believe we're up before seven, and on Christmas Day too," Millicent muttered. "I could have spent another three hours in bed!"
"You wouldn't have slept anyway," Luna stated.
"Exactly my point," Millicent replied, smirking when Theodore's ears turned red.
"I want to keep my food in my stomach," Padma muttered, poking at her scrambled eggs with a wince.
"Well, I want to open my presents," Blaise said, grinning.
"Ye can't unwrap me here, love. They migh' all get jealous," Seamus said, laughing when most of them looked at him in surprise.
Neville grinned, and went over to Seamus, sitting in his lap gently.
"Dear Santa. For Christmas this year, I'd like ... " he began, then started murmuring in Seamus' ear.
From the look on Seamus' face, Ginevra found that she was immensely glad Neville was speaking Gaelic and she couldn't understand a word being said.
"We'll be back for our presents later," Blaise said hurriedly as he listened to what his lover was saying.
Seamus, Neville, and Blaise pulled each other out of the meeting room quickly. Within seconds of getting inside their room, a vine shot out and pushed the door firmly shut, wrapping itself around the handle so no one could get in. Or out.
"Well, if they get their extra three hours, then so do we," Millicent said, grinning as she took Theodore's arm, leading him out of the room.
The others all followed suit, soon leaving only Draco, Ginevra, Luna and Colin in the meeting room.
"You released hormones this time, didn't you?" Ginevra asked Apollo, a slight grin on her face.
"One of many Christmas presents," Apollo replied, smirking.
"Well, we'd better not waste his present then, should we, love?" Draco asked Ginevra huskily.
Luna turned to Colin / Apollo once they'd left the room.
"Just how many presents did you get me?" she asked with a smile.
"Seven between the both of us. And some of them are from both of us," Colin replied.
His voice had an edge to it that she hadn't heard outside of their room before. It was one of desperate need and lust. Luna wondered exactly what it was he had bought for her that could make him like this.
She could See, of course, but that would spoil the surprise. Besides, with the amount of gifts he'd bought, it would be close to impossible for Luna to work out which scenario was right. Too much effort for something that was supposed to be a surprise.
So instead of Looking, Luna just smiled and held her hand out. Colin took it and pulled her to him, kissing her hungrily.
She leaned into his kiss, and with a soft groan, Colin hurried to lead her to their room.
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Draco had placed at least five spells on the door to prevent anyone coming in, interrupting, thinking of interrupting, or attempting to go near the door. Even though he doubted Apollo's hormones would wear off anytime soon, he really didn't want anyone disturbing them.
"I have a small present for you here, if you want it now," Draco said, grinning.
"Okay," Ginevra said eagerly, her eyes bright.
"You have to close your eyes."
Ginevra reluctantly did so, wondering what he'd gotten for her.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
Ginevra did so, her gaze landing on something completely unexpected.
"A Blood Pop?" she stated, looking to Draco.
He was grinning at her expression, and placed it against her lips, offering her to taste.
She did so tentatively. When she recognised the blood as Draco's, her eyes widened slightly and she removed the lollipop from her mouth.
"How did you do this?" Ginevra asked.
"Fred and George helped me. They mixed the ingredients with a few drops of my blood and set it into a lollipop. I wasn't sure it would work," Draco said with a slight shrug.
"They're not going to mass produce them, are they?" Ginevra asked, her fear and jealousy making the words come out in a rush of breath.
The fear of what other vampires would take a liking to her own's blood, and try to seek him out. And the jealousy of said vampires finding Draco and Drinking from him ... They would have to get past her first.
"No, that's the only one," Draco said, wondering about her reaction.
"Good," she breathed in relief.
Then she launched herself at him. With the lollipop sticking out the side of her mouth, Ginevra managed to kiss Draco, mixing the sweetened blood with the taste of him.
"So you like it then?" Draco asked with a smirk as she removed the Blood Pop from her mouth to bite his neck eagerly.
Without moving her head from the glorious flow of blood, Ginevra put the Blood Pop against Draco's mouth. He took it from her, sucked it for a moment, then removed it with a smirk.
"Well, no wonder you don't want it mass produced. I taste good," he said smugly.
"Better than good," Ginevra murmured as she licked the last of the blood from the healing wound on Draco's neck. "And all mine."
Ginevra ripped Draco's robe and shirt off in one movement. He would have protested as it was one of his favourite shirts, but then figured she could fix it later. And besides, why would he say anything when she was licking his chest that way?
"I'll fix it later," she murmured, running a hand down his chest.
She watched in brief fascination as five trails of blood started flowing down his torso. Draco's stomach clenched in desire, and Ginevra grinned at him then lowered her head. She licked each trail up one by one and in an excruciatingly slow way, her eyes never leaving his.
"Fuck, Ginevra," he groaned, pulling her back up to him.
He undressed her quickly, ripping her shirt as payback.
"I'll fix it later," he drawled when she growled at him.
Ginevra just glared and kissed him angrily, pressing him against the headboard as she undid his pants quickly. Draco groaned as she ran her hands along his inner thighs, and gripped her hips tightly. He went to caress her, but Ginevra shook her head.
"No foreplay, not today," she murmured, then nipped at his ear.
She impaled herself on him swiftly, both of them moaning in pleasure as they filled each other.
Ginevra bit his neck, drawing blood once more. She Drank from him eagerly, then cut her palm and offered it to him as she began to move against him.
"Let me go on top. I can get you there faster," Draco murmured, lapping the blood from her palm.
Ginevra had barely nodded when Draco turned them over and started pushing into her quickly. She joined in immediately, raising her hips in an effort to get to her orgasm sooner. There would be time for slow and sensual sex later. For now, she just wanted a hot and hard fucking.
Draco made sure that she got it, not even slowing when she reached her first orgasm, still pushing deeper and faster into her. Ginevra could have broken her pelvis and she wouldn't have cared, so long as Draco was on top of her with a hungry look in his eyes, and her blood on his mouth. She drew another line of blood, this one along her breast, and watched as he Drank from her eagerly. As he Drank, then moved his mouth to her tight nipple, Ginevra entered her second orgasm, crying out his name.
Draco was kissing her when she returned to reality, still managing to hold off his own orgasm. He licked her tongue, still able to taste the Blood Pop on her. He briefly wondered where that sticky thing had gotten to, but then Ginevra wrapped both of her legs around his waist and he slid even deeper into her, crying out as his orgasm took him over.
"I wanted to get three out of you," he panted as he rested on top of her.
"I know, but I wanted to see you lose control," Ginevra replied with a smirk.
"You can do that any time. Just tell me you love me," Draco murmured, kissing her again.
"And then pounce on you like you're the cream and I'm the cat?" Ginevra said with a laugh, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him down for another kiss.
"That's always a nice bonus, but not necessary, love."
"I know," she murmured, kissing him again.
...
"Okay, three hours is up. Everyone get out here so we can open our presents!" Pansy yelled, banging on the doors.
"What, do Greg and Vince have watches on their ... Ow!" Fred yelped when Padma hit him.
"You are crude, brother dearest. Now get out here before I come in there and drag you out with your watch," George replied, laughing at the obscenities Fred yelled back.
"You're both crude, and I'm giving you bars of soap to wash your mouths out," Ginevra muttered, shaking her head at her brothers' behaviour.
"Oh, you wouldn't do that, sister dearest! It may just make us nice, and could you imagine a world where Gred and I are nice?" Fred asked, shuddering at the thought.
George draped an arm around Ginevra's shoulder, smirking at her.
"Yes, Forge and I would give sweets out to children and they wouldn't run away," George said, batting his eyelashes.
"People would thank us in the street, not hit us with their handbags and umbrellas," Fred added.
"We'd love every family member the same, and even listen to Percy's lectures about cauldron bottoms," George continued.
"We would never even dream of teasing our sister dearest about drinking blood and sucking on Blood Pops," they said together, both of them trailing off as Ginevra's eyes turned red.
"Oh yes, thank you for that," Ginevra said, grinning at them both as she went over to Draco, her arm around him.
"Not even going to ask, are we, Gred?" Fred asked.
"Not even going to think about it, are we, Forge?" George replied.
They both shuddered, then hurried to the meeting room with the others.
"Did you end up finding the Blood Pop?" Ginevra asked Draco softly.
"It was stuck to the canopy over the bed. No idea how it got there," he replied, smirking.
Ginevra laughed, kissed Draco again, then went into the meeting room with him.
After half an hour, all of the presents were opened. Fred and George had exchanged their gifts with each other four times, so they had the present they'd originally been given.
"I swear, there's more paper in here than presents," Pansy muttered, hitting a shiny piece of Christmas wrap away.
"Merry Christmas, we bought you paper!" Padma and Parvati sang out, laughing.
"Don't you feel special now, Pans?" Gregory said sarcastically, smirking at his girlfriend.
"Oh, yes. Can't wait to see what I get for New Years and Easter," she drawled, rolling her eyes.
"Sex, sleep, and more sex?" Vincent offered, smirking.
"No thanks!" Fred and George called.
"Fred and George, did you give Relo a Skiving Snackbox?" Bexley asked as he floated into the room.
"We aren't allowed to answer that without our lawyer present," they replied immediately.
"You didn't, did you?" Ginevra asked, hitting them on the heads as she hurried to her room.
Relo was on the ground, boils covering his entire body.
"I'm going to kill you two," Ginevra growled to her brothers, glaring at them.
"We didn't know it would do this to him!" they protested.
"That's no excuse," Theodore muttered, going to find his healing kit.
"Don't be bad with the twinses. They were nice to Relo," Relo said, his body shivering as some more boils appeared.
"Seamus, go hunting. Relo needs food," Theodore said as he returned with his kit.
Seamus nodded, leaving with Blaise and Neville quickly.
Ginevra went to her trunk. Rummaging for a moment, she found the blanket that Relo had kept for her. Going back to the Erkling, Ginevra put it beside Relo. He looked happy for a moment, wrapping his arms around the faded blue blanket lovingly. Relo murmured something in elfish, making Theodore grin before returning to the healing spells.
"Okay, everyone out while Theodore helps Relo," Pansy murmured, ushering them out of the room. "You too, Ginevra."
"I'll be back, okay Relo?" Ginevra said, smiling at him.
Relo managed a small nod, whimpering.
Fred and George both looked ashen and upset, not meeting anyone's gaze as they all left the room.
"We really are sorry," they said to Ginevra.
"I know you are, but it doesn't make what you did any better. I mean, honestly, giving a Skiving Snackbox to an Erkling? And one as young as Relo, at that! You'll both look after him when Theodore's finished fixing your dirty work. And don't give those boxes to any more creatures," Ginevra said, sighing.
She couldn't be truly angry at them. Not when they both looked as depressed and remorseful as they did. Fred and George had never looked remorseful about something before, not even when they'd tried to make Ron do an Unbreakable Vow.
"Oh, and by the way? You can take the Glamours off," Ginevra added.
Fred and George looked up then, surprised.
"We don't mind keeping them up," Fred said.
"We know that we're not exactly model material..." George continued.
"You never were, now take the Glamours off," Ginevra interrupted, her voice stern.
Sighing, they took the Glamours off. As they did, the numerous scars they'd gotten during the month Ginevra had been under Ric's spell appeared. She kissed both of their scarred cheeks and hugged them tightly.
"Don't worry, brothers of mine. Relo will be all right."
"Okay, it's Christmas. Enough of this depressing stuff!" Pansy muttered from the meeting room doorway. "If you're quite over feeling sorry for yourselves, we're waiting for you to have lunch."
Ginevra smiled up at her brothers, counting the five and six scars on Fred and George respectively. She owed Virginia and Bart eleven scars...
"Come on, let's go get lunch," Ginevra said with a grin, looping her arms in her brothers and leading them to the meeting room.
"We're back," Blaise called as he, Neville, and Seamus came into Ginevra's rooms.
Seamus was carrying a few small birds and lizards. Despite the cold winter air, he was still in his fighting mode. He went straight into Ginevra's room, closing the door behind him.
"You should have seen him hunting," Neville said, grinning.
"Those animals didn't feel any pain at all," Blaise said.
"I don't think they even noticed the arrow," Neville added, shaking his head.
"It is the way of the hunter to cause the least amount of pain to its prey," Seamus murmured as he came into the meeting room.
His sudden presence made most of them jump; they hadn't heard Ginevra's door open, or heard Seamus' footsteps.
"I wonder if Theodore knows how to treat heart attacks," Millicent muttered, her eyes wide as she held her heart.
"Is Relo okay?" Fred and George asked.
"Theodore said tha' he'll be fine. Relo's doing whatev'r he does ter those animals now," Seamus replied.
"Doesn't he just eat them?" Padma asked, her eyebrow raised in confusion.
"I don't think ye want ter know what he does before lunch," Seamus said, grinning.
They all heard Theodore's footsteps, so no one was shocked when he came into the room. He looked a little green.
"You don't want to know what he does after lunch, either," he muttered, sitting down next to Millicent. "The boils are all gone now, and he's just got a slight fever. Relo will be fine after a few hours rest," Theodore informed them.
Fred and George looked relieved.
"That's great! Now sit down so we can eat," Vincent growled, rubbing his stomach.
Seamus rolled his eyes, returned to his mortal form and sat between Draco and Neville.
"There, happy now?" he drawled, grinning.
"Definitely," Gregory said, reaching over to grab the bowl of vegetables.
"You wanted vegetables?" Padma asked.
"They're warm, and I'm cold," Gregory replied, shrugging.
"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard!" Pansy said, laughing.
Gregory just passed the vegetables to Vincent, grinning.
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"Ah, a pleasure to see you all came to spend Christmas dinner with us," Dumbledore said, smiling at them all broadly. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Professor," Ginevra replied.
Relo ran between their feet, and looked up at Albus, grinning broadly.
"Hello Relo, it's wonderful to see you again," Albus said.
"Hello!" Relo replied, hugging Albus' legs.
A shriek drew their attention to the teacher's table. Rion was staring at Relo with wide eyes, her mouth formed in a shocked 'o'.
"We should have brought Relo to dinner long before this," Millicent muttered under her breath to Padma.
Padma stifled a laugh when Albus looked at them, before he turned his attention to the Astronomy Professor.
"The Erkling is quite harmless, Olivia. There is no need to be afraid of him," Albus said with a smile.
"I refuse to be in the same room as that ... creature, Albus," Rion said, her voice rising as Relo came closer to her.
"Relo, come back. You're scaring her," Ginevra called, reassuring Relo, who hadn't understood what Rion was saying.
Relo whined, but returned to Ginevra, his head hung.
"We'll be spending Christmas night with you Relo, just as I promised," she assured, smiling at him.
Relo yelled happily, hugging Ginevra tightly. He scrambled up her body and rested on her shoulder, wrapping his thin arms around her neck.
"Merry Christmas, everyone," Ginevra said genuinely, then left the Great Hall without a second glance back.
"Merry Christmas," her friends echoed, smirking at Rion's facial expression, before following Ginevra.
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Relo scrambled around the rooms eagerly, showing none of the weakness he'd had earlier in the day. He hugged everyone constantly, even while they were eating, and chattered away despite knowing they couldn't all understand what he was saying.
"We should get Chi to go with us tomorrow," Gregory said to Vincent, grinning.
"Speaking of, I haven't seen the Clabbert for a while, where'd she go?" Pansy asked with a slight frown.
"She's hibernating in the rafters," Bexley answered when no one replied.
"I didn't know the Clabbert hibernated," Parvati mused.
"Lyra told me, but I forgot to mention it," Colin admitted sheepishly.
"Is Micah still suffering in your sock drawer, Vincent?" Padma asked him, smirking.
"He moved to the cupboard just last week," he replied.
"Not much of an improvement there," Millicent muttered, making Parvati laugh.
"Dodger's off hibernating as well," Neville said, grinning.
"He's underneath our bed, last I saw," Seamus said.
"I heard he was moving to your Gran's place to teach her some manners," Blaise said to Neville, smirking.
"Oh no! I forgot to send my gift to Gran!" Neville groaned.
"Not like she deserves it, the old bat," Fred and George muttered.
"What did you buy her?" Ginevra asked.
"I didn't buy it; I made it ... " Neville said, coughing as he reddened slightly. "I grew a flower for her."
"I don't know anything about flowers, but I'd say it's a nice one," Seamus said, grinning.
"I can send it to her now, if you want," Draco offered.
"I'll send it tomorrow morning. It's not like she expects anything less from me," Neville replied with a sigh.
"I can't believe you actually put effort into something for her!" Theodore said, shocking most of them. "What? It's true... He's probably spent weeks growing this flower, and I doubt she'll even take care of it, or appreciate the work he's put into it. It's not right to be treated that way," he muttered.
"I know, but she raised me," Neville said quietly.
A Filibuster firework exploded, everyone jumping at the sudden loud noise and bright lights. Relo ran underneath the table, whimpering.
"Sorry Relo," Parvati called, sheepish. "It's Christmas; I didn't want to be depressed," she added when everyone looked at her in surprise.
"You can come out now, Relo. It won't hurt you," Theodore coaxed.
Trembling, Relo slowly came out from under the table. He flinched when Parvati hugged him, then relaxed.
"You scared us with the noise and the lights," he cried.
"I'm sorry, Relo. But it made everyone happy again," Parvati murmured, patting him.
"Jelly!" Relo said happily, scrambling over to Vincent.
"Or maybe it was the jelly," Parvati huffed.
George put an arm around her, grinning.
"I was just about to light mine when yours went off," he admitted, chuckling.
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"Good night!" Ginevra called down the hallway.
Everyone echoed her, sounding far more happy than they had in some time.
"Good night," Draco murmured, kissing her.
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(a/n: hope you enjoyed the twentieth chapter! Thank you for reading!)